The owners of the Bataclan in Paris have reacted angrily to the suggestion by Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes that its security guards were complicit in the massacre that left 89 concertgoers dead on 13 November 2015, calling his remarks “insane”.

“Jesse Hughes spread some very grave and defamatory accusations against the Bataclan teams,” the Bataclan’s owners said in a statement. “A judicial investigation is undergoing. We wish to let justice proceed serenely. All the testimonies gathered to this day demonstrate the professionalism and courage of the security agents who were on the ground on 13 November. Hundreds of people were saved thanks to [their] intervention.”

In a video interview with Fox Business Network, Hughes had been asked if anything had seemed unusual when he arrived at the venue that evening.

“When I first got to the venue and walked in, I walked past the dude who was supposed to be the security guard for the backstage,” he said. “He didn’t even look at me. I immediately went to the promoter and said, ‘Who’s that guy? I want to put another dude on.’ He says, ‘Well, some of the other guards aren’t here yet.’ And eventually I found out that six or so wouldn’t show up at all.”

He added: “Out of respect for the police still investigating, I won’t make a definite statement, but it seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up.”

Hughes also said he had noticed people at the venue who didn’t look like regular Eagles of Death Metal fans. “Right before we walked onstage, there were two dudes in shorts and trench coats, [who] were standing, without talking, heads down in the corner, by where the entrance out into the venue is from backstage,” he said. “We have a joke that if you’re not smiling at one of our shows, you surely can’t be there to see the Eagles of Death Metal, because you don’t know what you’re in for. Shawn [London, the group’s sound engineer] looked at me and said, ‘They certainly don’t look like they’re here for one of our shows.’”

“Did your French gun control stop a single fucking person from dying at the Bataclan?” he said. “And if anyone can answer yes, I’d like to hear it, because I don’t think so. I think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men I’ve ever seen in my life charging head-first into the face of death with their firearms.

“I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal,” he said. “And I hate it that it’s that way. I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe until nobody has guns everybody has to have them.

“Because I’ve never seen anyone that’s had one dead, and I want everyone to have access to them, and I saw people die that maybe could have lived, I don’t know.”

The Californian hard-rock band were on stage at the Bataclan when three terrorists entered the venue and began shooting with assault rifles and throwing hand grenades. It was one of a series of attacks in Paris that night that left 130 people dead. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the murders.